A lot of us met through our high school (Cranston East) and played in the marching band/jazz band/choir etc. We met John and Paul (from Cranston West, the rival high school) through some mutual friends and some skeevy emails.

How did Bad Larry begin playing ska music? Give us the BL story. Haha.

I'm pretty sure most of us began listening to ska when Reel Big Fish became popular. For some reason, the genre stayed popular in our city and several bands started up. We just happen to be one of those bands.

Who are your major influences and which bands have inspired you the most?

We are influenced and inspired by a LOT of bands. When it comes to Ska, we're all huge fans of Reel Big Fish, Less than Jake, the Rx Bandits, Big D and the Kids Table, and Catch 22 to name a few. However, none of us are close minded when it comes to our music tastes at all. We are all HUGE Sublime fans. Our singer Paul is a huge Elvis Costello fan. We all love hip hop. We listen to a real wide array of music and are inspired by all of it. We take a lot of pride in this.

Scottiewags, a member of the AbsolutePunk.net forums, would like to know who your favourite bands out of Rhose Island to play with have been over the years?

Scottiewags is actually a dear friend of ours from an awesome, but sadly deceased band called Better Off that we used to LOVE playing with. Some awesome RI bands we have played with are Badfish, M-80, Slik Willy, Zox, The Lingo, Senior Discount, Monty's Fan Club, Gruvis Malt, Vega, and of course the ska legends of RI, The Agents. I know there are a lot bands that have slipped my mind, but generally we haven't met a band from RI that isn't our favorite. We've been going out of our way to book lots of shows with RI bands so we can make more friends, and help bands that are just getting started out. It's been working out real well.

Speaking of shows, what kind of plans do you guys have for touring in the future? Any specific bands you're planning on hitting the road with?

Every weekend we've been adventuring further and further away from home, and meeting lots of awesome people. We have a short 2 and a half week tour planned for the beginning of August that's going to be very exciting. We most likely will be touring solo, playing with awesome local bands from each venue.

Do you have any crazy stories or moments that have happened on the road you'd care to share with us?

Every trip is an adventure. I'm definitely going to have to start keeping a camcorder with me more often. I do have a great story from a Connecticut Rest Stop.

So, we're coming home from an awesome show out in CT, at about 1 am, and we needed to stop and fuel the van, go to the bathroom, etc.

We had always heard on TV and from our friends that truck stop bathrooms were BAD places to be by yourself late at night. However this was the last thing on Paul (our singer)'s mind and he sped to the urinal and got about his business. Paul noticed some people in the bathroom, but didn't really think anything of it. All of a sudden one of them (who was under the influence of something, we have no idea what) approached him from the side, and started watching Paul's business.

Needless to say, Paul was out faster than the fat kid in dodgeball from that bathroom show and tell session. We all got into the van except for Nick who had to finish fueling. Paul told us about what had happened, and just when he finished the story we realized the guy was talking (or attempting to) to Nick, begging for change. The guy was becoming REAL irritable. Our bass player grabbed a tire iron and was ready to jump in if necessary. Luckily the gas was all pumped and we got the heck out of there.

While this is a funny story, we learned a very important lesson. The buddy system is VERY important and should always be used, especially at truck stops, and late at night.

How do you feel about the current state of the music industry? You know, all these screamo bands becoming huge...

The music industry is a big mystery. There's lots of money here and everyone wants a piece. Yes, there are a lot of bands with little talent and no message to their music that are getting way too much recognition.(*COUGHKILLERSJET). As far as screamo goes, I think some credit is deserved to a few bands of the genre. Like most genres, there are some good bands, and a ton of bad bands. I like how lots of bands that are playing music that normally isn't considered pop at all (such as The Mars Volta) are getting some serious mainstream play. I think if there was one thing i could change about it, I think better A&R work should be done, when it comes to finding talent.

What's your favourite Bad Larry song and why?

I think Bad Larry's favorite song to play live is probably B-Side. We can get really loose and have a lot of collective improvisation going on, while still having everyone stay on the same page.

Another question from the forum, and I felt it was neccessary to ask. What would you do for a klondike bar?

The answer is pretty simple. We would drink a lot and kill some hookers. The usual.

What other upcoming bands out there do you feel deserve more attention and popularity amongst the "scene"?

Some great ska bands just started to get big that I'd recommend everyone check out are I Voted 4 Kodos, The Know How, Westbound Train, In The Face, Stealing from Peter, Tip The Van, and the Suburban Legends. Some other bands in other genres i'd recommend are Gruvis Malt, Monty's Fan Club, Slik Willy. Google these names, they're all great bands.

What was it like recording "No Deal"?

Recording No Deal was a serious highlight of my life. We spent a week up in Portland, Maine at Great Big Sound Studios. It's an awesome studio with a huge live room. The equipment there was all incredible. Our engineer Jack Murray was unbelievable. He is without a doubt one of the nicest, talented people I have ever met. Upstairs from the studio, was a 3 bedroom apartment where we all partied and slept each night. We kept a Nintendo Game Cube up here and played tons of Mario Kart. I remember Nick and Wayne got into some sort of fist fight every night.

You guys have a song called "Label", which if i'm not mistaken, asks record labels to sign you guys. I was just curious as to whether or not you've gotten any attention from big labels?

We haven't really marketed ourselves to any big labels, however we've talked to some A&R reps and we've got some great feedback. Right now getting signed isn't a priority. However, if any label is interested we would definitely consider all offers.

Who do you feel the American Idol title should go to?

Whichever girl has the biggest boobies. Simon has no credentials when it comes to judging talent, and they should get a real panel. Having said that, I would love to one day marry Kelly Clarkson. Kelly, if you read this, I love you!!!

(On a side note: the girl won. So I guess Walt sort of got his wish)

Okay, I won't keep you all day, so this is the last question. Do you have any last words you'd like to share with our readers?

To the readers who haven't heard us before: Thanks for checking out this interview. Absolutepunk.net is an awesome site which i've recently got a lot more familiar with and i'm going to hang around to forums a lot more from now on. If your a fan of ska/punk, please come check us out at http://www.myspace.com/badlarry Let us know what you think of our music and drop me a message. We love all feedback.

To the readers who have heard us before: Thank you for your continuing support. We're doing our absolute best for you. Expect a bangin new official website with lots of awesome stuff for you very soon.

To everyone: Come party with us at a show very soon and/or stay in touch!! KSI!